The War of the Black Ravens
by FranziskavonKarmaWhippedYou
Summary: AU. Descole, Don Paolo, Clive, Emmy and the Black Ravens are just one side in the War. Layton and his Guild are another. Power, friendship and love are all going to be put to the test... Clive/Emmy.
1. The Run of the Ravens

**Just a little idea I had playing FFT: War of the Lions. Kind of also mixed with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>"When did the Guild ever give a damn about our endeavours?" Clive asked, tugging at his handcuffs. Emmy growled and bit her lip, kicking the bars of her cell.<p>

"I have no idea. Hershel was always against us working for the Demons, though," Emmy sighed. "Well, Crow? Do we bust ourselves out or do we wait for the Black Ravens to come and give us a hand?" Emmy asked, leaning against the cell bars.

"Well, how do you plan to break us out?" Crow asked from the corner. "Louis is the goddamn psychic here, not us. And Marilyn is the magician."

"Brute strength," Clive replied. "You forget how much of it I have." In order to demonstrate Clive's shocking physical power, he snapped the handcuffs in two.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Crow moaned. "You could've stopped this happening!" Clive shrugged and waited for a few painstaking seconds until no guards were looking, then he placed his hands on the bars and wrenched them apart. There was no time to spare, so he grabbed Emmy and raced out.

"Wait for me!" Crow yelped, running after them and almost falling over in his haste. As the guards raced at them, it became obvious how Clive had become an infamous warrior. He beat back the guards with no hesitation and pulled Emmy out the door. Crow made it, but barely.

Descole and Don Paolo stood outside, each holding their weapons - a sword and a giant spanner, respectively. Behind them stood a group of horses, which they all mounted as fast as they could. Clive broke Emmy and Crow's handcuffs, wasting few precious seconds, and then they mounted, the horses bolting off into the distance.

Once the party found themselves a fair distance from the city, they slowed to a mere trot that made it incredibly hard to think straight.

"So, explain how the hell you got into that one," Descole said angrily. "Now they'll be issuing warrants for your arrest. That will slow our war efforts. Clive, Emmy, Crow, I am ashamed of you three. You will receive adequate punishment upon return to our camp." Clive had seen his fair share of punishments, but Emmy and Crow only knew of them.

Clive didn't bother mentioning it was an accident, because Descole wouldn't want to hear it. When they reached one of their camps, the Raven Cave where the Black Ravens, Emmy, Clive, Descole and Don Paolo lived, the Black Ravens pooled out and welcomed their friends, but Don Paolo shooed them back in and left Descole to deliver his punishments; namely, whipping.

Neither Emmy nor Crow had seen quite the state of Clive's upper body, and they were shocked at what they saw when he removed his shirt. His back was covered in scars; some old, some new, and mostly from lashings. His torso contained even worse scars, most from physical combat, swords and knives. Clive allowed Descole to whip him until his back was raw, then he pulled his shirt back on and walked away, as if nothing had happened.

Crow was next, and he yelped several times, but otherwise he was not whipped as severely as Clive. He was only a child, after all, and Descole had a shred of kindness in him. Emmy, because she was female, was not whipped and instead made to plant some seeds so that those of the Raven Cave could eat. She did this all afternoon, given only a short break to eat her lunch. Both Clive and Crow felt that her punishment was worse than theirs, though Clive quickly changed his mind as his back worsened.

Emmy worked all day until Descole finally dismissed her by nightfall. Inside the cave, Clive and Crow set to it that Emmy didn't have to set up her own bed, which was just a sleeping bed on top of a mattress. All of them had been conveniently stolen from cities far away by Descole. Clive lay on the mattress next to Emmy's.

"Sometimes I feel as if you get it worse than all of us," he murmured. "You being the only grown woman."

"I'm fine, Clive," Emmy replied. "It wasn't that hard... besides, we need food."

"But if you need me, I want you to know I'm here," Clive whispered. "And I'm never going to leave you."

"That sounds kind of creepy, Clive."

"Well, that wasn't my intention..."


	2. Luke Triton

Luke stood on the balcony and gazed out at the twinkling stars. He gave a short sigh. From behind him, Arianna tapped his shoulder and joined him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at the sky.

"I miss Clive, Emmy and the Black Ravens... And I'm starting to wonder if our side really is the right one," he murmured. Arianna placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Would the professor really choose the wrong side, Luke?" Arianna asked, folding her arms.

"I don't know, but I heard that the Noir Corbeau are making an attack on the city at dawn. That means Clive, Emmy and the Ravens will be there. Can we really fight them?" Luke asked.

"Do you think the Guild is wrong? If so, you can leave and join the Noir Corbeau. I'm sure they're desperate for people on their side, seeing as they have a lack of them," Arianna murmured. "It's all your choice, Luke."

Luke turned around and walked to the door, brushing past Arianna. "I guess I'll stay."

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><p>Luke jolted awake the sound of a siren. He ran over to his window and peered out. The Noir Corbeau army had broken through the gates and were flooding into the city. Luke had no time to get into his armour, so he grabbed his trusty broadsword and ran out of the Guild with some other members.<p>

He desperately searched for Clive, Emmy and the Black Ravens. There they were, at the head of the attack which was moving towards the Guild. Towards him. Could Luke really fight them? Or would he, like a baby, let them into the Guild?

Before he could make up his mind, Clive was in front of him and swinging his sword. Luke parried swiftly and tried to return an attack, but Clive stabbed his arm and threw him aside without hesitation, even though they had once been friends.

Luke scrambled to his feet, lucky the injured arm was his left and not his dominant, and ran towards the head of the army. A few of the attackers seemed to notice that he was not one of their own and made for him, but Luke swiftly and nimbly made his way to the front line.

"You really don't know when to quit, do you?" Clive shouted over the noise of running footsteps.

"I can't just let you into my guild!" Luke yelled back.

"Very well then, I will fight to kill! There is no going back now, Luke Triton! You are an enemy of mine!" Clive shouted, and stabbed Luke right into the chest. The last thing Luke saw was Clive's face.

"Did you have to?" Emmy shouted from next to him, staring at the probably dead boy impaled on Clive's sword.

"He's an enemy!" Clive shot back. "And we of the Noir Corbeau have to kill our enemies to win the war, don't we? There is no resolution in peace! Results can only be achieved through violence! The only thing a bully understands is force!"

Emmy stared in horror at Clive. He was not the man she knew. The war and the Noir Corbeau had completely changed him. In the midst of the violence, Emmy could see none of the gentle man who had pledged to stay by her side merely the night before.

'Clive Dove' was dead.

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><p>Luke woke up on top of a mattress in searing pain. He could see people moving back and forth, but he couldn't properly see them. He lay there for what seemed like an eternity before someone knelt next to him.<p>

"I think he's awake!" Emmy's voice shouted.

"About time!" Socket grumbled, walking over. As he waved a hand over Luke's face, Luke found himself able to see clearly.

"I can't thank you enough for saving Luke, Socket," Emmy said softly. "Even if everyone thinks it was just a waste of their time and energy."

"It's nothing," Socket replied, forcing Luke to sit up and drink a bitter tasting liquid with lumps in it. Luke felt like spitting it out. "Come on, Luke, drink it! Otherwise I'll throw you out and let the vultures at you!" That prompted Luke to drink faster.

"This is a stupid idea!" Don Paolo growled. "This brat will only slow us down! You saw how our assault yesterday failed!"

"Leave 'em alone, Don. We managed to destroy the Guild and the Church. It was just Layton's fault we lost. If he hadn't gotten Flora to teleport us all out into the middle of the forest, we would still be fighting. It's not their fault," Clive said, glancing over at Luke. Now that he was out of the fray, Emmy had noticed he had returned to normal.

Luke cried out as a wave of searing hot pain shot through his torso.

"Oh shit, he's bleeding," Socket yelped. "Emmy, get me the cotton pad." Emmy nodded and leaned back, handing Socket a strange cotton square that was soaked in a wonderful-smelling liquid. Socket placed the cotton pad on Luke's chest, where it hurt the most, and the pain began to turn into freezing cold pain, making Luke yell even more.

"Relax," Emmy said softly. "It'll be over in a minute."

"Get Marilyn," Socket ordered. "We've got to knock him out. Emmy, distract Luke for a bit." Emmy began singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and that seemed to do the trick. For the time it took someone to get Marilyn, Luke was so focused on the song he didn't feel the pain. When Marilyn arrived, she used her psychic powers to put Luke to sleep.

As Socket feverishly worked to cure Luke, sometimes using his sister to help and Marilyn too, Emmy and Clive left for a room in the deeper parts of the cave. Crow had been injured badly by a Guild member who was insistent on not dying. Wren had eventually beat the man to death with her own selection of ordinary instruments from her toolkit.

Crow had been drifting in and out of consciousness, but Socket had managed to stop the bleeding and healed up the wound with a mixture of magic and medicine. Scraps was in charge of items as well as being incredibly resourceful himself, and Badger, as Scraps's best friend, would help make concoctions as well as being swift and a wielder of knives.

Badger and Scraps were watching over Crow, occasionally feeding him in his few minutes of consciousness.

"How is he doing?" Clive asked, crouching down next to Crow.

"He should be fine in a few days," Badger explained. "The opponent didn't hit anything major; just broke a rib and stabbed a bit. So he's fine."

"Alright," Clive nodded. "Good work, everyone." He took hold of Emmy's wrist and pulled her outside and pushed her against the wall. Emmy was scared for a fraction of a second, until Clive leaned forward and kissed her.

Emmy didn't know what to do, so she closed her eyes and enjoyed it. Clive's insanity in the battlefield was just caused by adrenaline, right? So he was fine. Absolutely fine. Emmy didn't like it when Clive pulled away, but she scarcely liked anything and she had to put up with it.

Clive smiled weakly, and that was when Emmy knew something was wrong. The second sign was when he passed out and fell right on top of her.


	3. Clive's Throat

**This is short and a bit sweary. Poor Clive. Anyways, enjoy.**

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><p>"I don't understand why this had to happen!" Emmy sobbed. "I just don't know!"<p>

Luke sat next to her and had run out of things to calm her with, so he sat in silence, looking at Clive. Both Luke and Crow had been completely cured, and it had been a week since Clive fell into a coma. There still appeared to be no reason why, and Descole was thinking he was going to have to send Clive to a Noir Corbeau city for treatment.

Emmy had been grieving the most. It seemed to be her fault he had collapsed; they had been together when it happened. No matter how much Luke tried to convince Emmy otherwise, it didn't work.

That night, when it was Don Paolo's unfortunate turn to have to be with Emmy and watch over Luke, he started smoking. Emmy kept telling him to put it away, until there was a cough.

"Who the fuck was that?" Don Paolo asked, looking around. "Too loud to be from in the front... Emmy?"

"Not me," she replied, shaking her head. Instantly, the two looked down at Clive. He sat up, his eyes watering, and coughed. Don Paolo stubbed out his cigarette to see if that was any better. Clive coughed even harder, and on one of his coughs, something flew out of his mouth.

Don Paolo collected Badger, Scraps, Descole and Socket to examine the mystery object and clean it of all the horrible things, while Don Paolo himself and Emmy fed Clive and gave him water. He stopped coughing after a drink of water, but it soon became obvious there was something wrong with this throat. He couldn't speak.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Don Paolo insisted. "The boy can't speak now!"

"It looks like an acid rock," Badger murmured. "Socket, go check Clive's throat for damage." Socket placed a finger on Clive's neck and closed his eyes. Using a spell that required no build-up whatsoever, he could see what Clive's throat looked like.

"Looks like acid damage. But how'd he swallow an acid rock?" Socket asked, opening his eyes and taking his finger away.

"That's one of the questions," Descole replied. "The other is, how are we going to heal him?"

"I can do that," Socket replied. "So we've only got one question left. And maybe we can get Clive to answer that." Socket placed his finger back on Clive's neck and sent magic charging into Clive's throat. The magic swiftly repaired the damage and then dissolved, just like that.

Clive had to clear his throat before speaking. "I got knocked out for a few minutes. Anyone could've got an acid rock in my mouth then."

"Damn," Don Paolo growled. "You need to be more defensive, Clive. We could've lost a valuable ally because you took a fucking nap!" Clive yelped as Don Paolo punched him in the face.

"Stop fighting!" Luke yelled. "It'll only make this war harder if your soldiers are injured before the battle. And harder for Socket, too." Don Paolo growled at Luke.

"Fine," he said eventually, throwing a rock at Luke. Luke dodged it nimbly and watched as Don Paolo stormed off, Descole hot on his heels.

"Clive," Emmy said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"Shut up," Clive hissed. He grabbed Don Paolo's giant spanner and began wildly attacking one corner of the room. The others laughed until there was a smash, and it wasn't the spanner.

Clive turned around and held up the ruins of a spy bug.


End file.
